Amanda List is a dancer/choreographer out of Green Bay Wisconsin. With a BA degree in Dance from UW-Stevens Point coupled with other studies around movement, spirituality, and psychology, she believes in the power of healing through movement: movement as medicine. Her classes and choreography strive to create confidence and empowerment for beginner and intermediate level dancers. She approaches movement with great playfulness and heart. You may have seen her choreography in: LEAP-The Human Kindness Project, Unhinged 2018 & 2022, Death's Door Dance Festival 2022.
Amanda Timm grew up in Minneapolis where she began studying dance at Perpich Center for Arts Education: Arts High School. Moving to Chicago to attend Columbia College Chicago in 2006, Amanda earned her BFA in dance making. There she started We Stand Sideways, a project-based dance company, creating audience interactive works produced in non-traditional spaces. Amanda also danced in works for The Moving Architects, Khecari, Synapse Arts, Striding Lion, Kelly Anderson Dance Theatre, and The Fly Honeys. In 2015, Amanda created what she considers her own therapeutic work called Truth Be Told; a dark comedy exploring guilt and liberation performed as a funeral. From there, Amanda went on a soul-searching journey, traveling domestically and internationally. During that time, she volunteered in India at Kolkata Sanved; an NGO that uses DMT to treat women who have experienced sex trafficking, giving them a pathway out of poverty by training them as DMTs themselves. Amanda traveled for five amazing years only to end up back in her hometown during a pandemic. During that time, she began studying clinical mental health counseling and DMT remotely at Antioch Seattle. She is currently a clinical intern at the Family Enhancement Center in Minneapolis and looks forward to sharing what she's learned. Please note that Amanda is not currently a licensed therapist.
Andria Nikoupolis Weliky, "The Cosmic-tologist," brings a lifetime of dance with over 35 years of instruction as well as 20 years as a cosmetologist to her work as a movement and holistic beauty practitioner. She is a student of the stars, mythos, psyche and cosmology, a practicing astrologer and sacred astronomer, and budding herbalist. She is continually inspired by nature and celebrates in all, connection, balance and oneness we can all strive to practice and incorporate everyday. Working with and co-creating with these elements is something Andria celebrates with her client work and artistry, holding in high regard, honor and respect for those she works with, for herself and for our precious planet.
Ashley Ray Garcia is a dancer and choreographer from Michigan. She received her BFA in Dance-Performance and Choreography from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. During her time at UWM, she has worked with Maria Gillespie, Simeone Ferro, Mair Culbreth, Daniel Burkholder, Anthony “YNOT” Denaro, Dani Kuepper, and Dan Schuchart. Through her love of traveling, she has had the opportunity to perform in France, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, and the Czech Republic. Her choreographic focus right now centers around women’s rights/history and mental health awareness. Her most recent performance/choreography, "Dear Édith,” was performed in Detroit, Michigan at the Collage Dance Festival. "Thinking of Mother," premiered at the Milwaukee Fringe Festival in August 2021. In March of 2022, her dance for film “In This Hallway” premiered at RAD Fest in West Michigan. Her senior piece, “In These Skirts” was chosen by the faculty at her university to perform ACDA in the adjudication concert in 2022. “In These Skirts” was also performed at Central de la Danse in Paris, France in June of 2022. She is currently a company member with Wild Space Dance Company and Danceworks Performance Company. Garcia enjoys choreographing, performing, and improvisation and looks forward to gaining knowledge through both exploring and experience.
BRAEDEN BARNES (Chicago, IL), received his training from Faubourg Ballet, Academy of Dance Arts, San Francisco Ballet School, and Houston Ballet School. Braeden was then accepted into the Joffrey Ballet training program under the directors Alexei Kremnev and Anna Reznik.
Braeden is in his sixth season with Visceral Dance Chicago and has worked professionally with Balletmet, Ron de Jesus Dance, Billy Elliot the Musical, Cocodaco Dance Project, LEVELdance, and Nevada Ballet Theatre. Braeden Barnes is also a choreographer based in Chicago, IL. His choreography has been featured on stage in such cities as Chicago, Las Vegas, New York City, Denver, and Atlanta. He has choreographed for festivals such as: Dance Chicago, Dance Canvas and REVERBDance Festival in New York, where his work won the First Place Audience Choice Award. He has choreographed on various companies such as A & A Ballet, Aerial Dance Chicago, Nevada Ballet Theatre, Cirque Du Soleil, LEVELDance, Cocodaco Dance Project, and in New Dances, a collaboration between Thodos Dance Chicago and Dance Works Chicago. In 2016, He started his own company, Symbiosis, which has gone on to produce national concerts and has commissioned choreographers such as Anna Long, Jason Parsons, and Taylor Mitchell.
Braeden is in his sixth season with Visceral Dance Chicago and has worked professionally with Balletmet, Ron de Jesus Dance, Billy Elliot the Musical, Cocodaco Dance Project, LEVELdance, and Nevada Ballet Theatre. Braeden Barnes is also a choreographer based in Chicago, IL. His choreography has been featured on stage in such cities as Chicago, Las Vegas, New York City, Denver, and Atlanta. He has choreographed for festivals such as: Dance Chicago, Dance Canvas and REVERBDance Festival in New York, where his work won the First Place Audience Choice Award. He has choreographed on various companies such as A & A Ballet, Aerial Dance Chicago, Nevada Ballet Theatre, Cirque Du Soleil, LEVELDance, Cocodaco Dance Project, and in New Dances, a collaboration between Thodos Dance Chicago and Dance Works Chicago. In 2016, He started his own company, Symbiosis, which has gone on to produce national concerts and has commissioned choreographers such as Anna Long, Jason Parsons, and Taylor Mitchell.
Charlique C. Rolle is an arts administrator, interdisciplinary artist, choreographer, director, producer, playwright, actor, writer, curator, and Executive Director of Congo Square Theatre. Rolle holds a BA in Dance (Summa Cum Laude) from Missouri Valley College with minors in Theatre and Business, an MA in Ministry Leadership from Moody Theological Seminary, and an MBA from Concordia University Chicago. A Bahamas native, Rolle’s passions are telling Black stories, creating works that catalyze healing, freedom, and transformation, and providing resources and structures for communities to breed creative freedom, sustainability, and longevity. Rolle is the President of the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago, Treasurer of the League of Chicago Theatres, a member of the Arts Alliance Illinois Arts Leadership Council, Chicago Women in Philanthropy, Chicago African Americans in Philanthropy, the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network, was named as one of Newcity’s Players 2022: The Fifty People Who Really Perform for Chicago, and is 2023 IMPACT Fellow with the Chicago Urban League and University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Additionally, Rolle serves as the Associate Director of the August Wilson New Voices national and Chicago competitions in partnership with Derrick Sanders (Associate Director of Drama at Juilliard) and the Goodman Theatre. Rolle is also an Adjunct Professor at The Theatre School at DePaul University.
Cheryl Cornacchione holds a B.F.A. in Dance Performance and Choreography from the University of Southern Mississippi. Upon graduating, Cheryl moved to Chicago where she has performed with BONEdanse, CORE Dance Project, Hope Goldman, We Stand Sideways Dance, Erin Kilmurray, Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, and was an artistic collaborator with The Runaways Lab Theatre. Currently, she is a performer and collaborator for Laboratory Dancers, completed her first season with REIdance Group, and she has been a core company member of Kelly Anderson Dance Theatre since 2014. Cheryl is thrilled to be performing with REIdance and KADT for the 2nd Annual Death’s Door Dance Festival!
Chloe Grace Michels & Enid Smith first danced together with Same Planet Performance Project in Chicago. They performed a work by Joanna Read in the inaugural year of Death’s Door Dance Festival and are back for year two with their own choreography. Chloe graduated with a BFA in Dance from Columbia College Chicago. She has worked with choreographers Timothy Buckley, Margi Cole, Paige Cunningham, Fred Darsow, Emma Draves, Hannah Santistevan, and Emily Stein. Enid is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. In NYC, she performed with Ivy Baldwin Dance, The Merce Cunningham Repertory Understudy Group, Anita Cheng Dance, and MAC cosmetics. In Chicago, Enid has worked with Khecari, and Lucky Plush Productions.
Cyenthia Vijayakumar is a Kathak performer, teacher and choreographer from Milwaukee. She has undergone her training in Lucknow gharana from Guru Murari Sharan Gupta and Guru Hari and Chetna from Bangalore, India. She is currently undergoing her ISTD( Imperial Society for Teachers of Dance)training under MBE ( Member of the Order of the British Empire ) Guru Sujata Banerjee from London. She is the Artistic Director of Aarambh Kathak Dance School that she founded in 2019. Aarambh Kathak Dance School is the only school that follows ISTD and is at the forefront of promoting Kathak, which is a north Indian classical dance form in Wisconsin.
Danielle Gilmore is a Chicago Based artist, performing and mentored under the direction of Shirley Mordine since 2011 with Mordine and Company Dance Theater. Currently taking the role of performance/repertoire preservationist for the Mordine Legacy Project, Danielle has premiered choreography under mentorship of Mordine and Ayako Kato’s Art Union Humanscape. Originally from Yuma, AZ Danielle received her BFA from the University of Arizona, studying ballet, modern, jazz and dance injury. Danielle currently performing with Kelly Anderson Dance Theatre and Mordine Legacy Project. She continues to create work on and off camera. Her on camera work includes Carl Dondrol, “Wayward Wind”, “Lean In “, One Hour Project, Dove Commercial and Hitchens,” Better Without You."
Elisa Hildner, originally from Naperville, IL, is a movement instructor and dance artist based in Madison, WI. She practices and teaches Pilates, strength training, and dance to educate and empower the unique bodies of all individuals. Her practice emphasizes the exploration of anatomy and the utilization of embodied information to develop functional and powerful movement. She strongly believes that Pilates and movement practices benefit physical, mental, and emotional health—she advocates for inclusion and movement for all. Elisa is a graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Dance and a certificate in Pilates. While in undergrad, Elisa was awarded the Buff Brennan Senior Honors Award. She used this award/grant/scholarship to present choreographic research in the form of an evening-length performance entitled she/her/hers. Upon graduation, Elisa was awarded the Anna R. Nassif Dance Award for her choreographic works created while she was a student. She is currently a dancer with Li Chiao-Ping Dance, as well as working on independent choreographic projects.
Emma Draves is a dance artist and educator navigating intertextual spaces of identity. She draws from trainings in modern, bharatanatyam, ballet, jazz, and ethnography, to weave work of kinesthetic narrative - derived through colliding multiplicities of physical effort, idiosyncrasy, and emotional landscape.Emma’s choreographic work has been shown internationally in Edinburgh (UK) & Vancouver (BC), as well as at NYU, Hamlin Park, High Concept Labs, Links Hall, Chicago Cultural Center, Columbia College Chicago, and Comfort Station; and commissioned by Danceworks Company and UW-Milwaukee. As a performer, Emma has worked with several companies and as an independent artist. Notable experiences include Mordine & Company, Hedwig Dances, Jonathan Meyer, and Archana Kumar; and theatrical productions at Victory Gardens and Lookingglass Theatre. Trained in bharatanatyam under Smt. Hema Rajagopalan, Emma has enjoyed a long association with Natya Dance Theatre as a performing artist - participating in several national tours and international collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma & Silk Road Project, NanJombang (Indonesia), and Astad Deboo (India) - grant-writer and archivist. She now works as Natya’s Executive Director. Emma holds a GLCMA & MFA - and has served on faculty at Columbia College Chicago, College of DuPage, Northwestern University, and OK State University.
Enid Smith is a graduate of the contemporary dance program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She has been teaching ballet and modern at Dance Center Evanston since 2007. She has also taught for Chicago National Association of Dance Masters, Wisconsin Dance Masters, Dovetail Studios, and as a guest at New Trier High School, Arlington Dance Academy, and the inaugural season of the Death’s Door Dance Festival. As a performer, she has appeared with Ivy Baldwin Dance, The Merce Cunningham Repertory Understudy Group, MAC cosmetics, Khecari, Same Planet Performance Project, and Lucky Plush Productions. She has completed her Cecchetti teacher exams through Grade IV and is trying to learn the Texas Two-Step.
Gerald Casel (he/they/siya) is a dance artist, equity activator, and antiracist educator. As director of GERALDCASELDANCE, his choreographic work complicates and provokes questions surrounding colonialism, collective cultural amnesia, whiteness and privilege and the tensions between the invisible/perceived/obvious structures of power. Casel is Professor and Chair of the Department of Dance at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. They have previously been a faculty member at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Palucca Hochschule für Tanz Dresden, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, California State University Long Beach, and UC Santa Cruz where he also served as the Provost of Porter College. A graduate of The Juilliard School with an MFA from UW-Milwaukee, they received a New York Dance and Performance Award “Bessie” for sustained achievement for dancing in the companies of Stephen Petronio, Michael Clark, Stanley Love, Zvi Gotheiner, Sungsoo Ahn, and The Metropolitan Opera Ballet. He is the founder of Dancing Around Race, an ongoing community engaged-participatory program that interrogates systemic racial inequities. www.geraldcasel.com
Gina Laurenzi graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee (UWM) with a BFA in Dance: Choreography & Performance and is currently pursuing her MFA. Before beginning her chapter in Milwaukee, Gina was awarded a full merit scholarship to train at Giordano Dance Chicago and later performed with Giordano II and Inaside Chicago Dance. For seven years, Laurenzi owned and operated Laurenzi Dance, presenting community dance concerts and arts events (Kenosha, WI). Since living in Milwaukee, Laurenzi has been able to perform the works of Daniel Burkholder, Simone Ferro, Marie Gillespie, Dani Kuepper, Deb Loewen, Dawn Springer, Christal Wagner, and Morgan Williams, among many others. Laurenzi continues to set work on the Gina Laurenzi Dance Project and has created works for Danceworks Performance MKE (DPMKE), Danceworks Youth Performance Company, Makaroff Youth Ballet (Appleton, WI), the Milwaukee Ballet’s Pre-Professional Program students, Milwaukee's High School of the Arts, UWM Dance Dept., and Water Street Dance Milwaukee. Laurenzi has had the opportunity to perform with Wild Space Dance Company since 2022.
Haley Marcin is a Chicago based artist, performer, and educator. In 2019, she graduated summa cum laude from The University of North Carolina Greensboro with a BFA in Dance. Haley had the opportunity to train intensively and perform in Calabria, Italy on a full tuition scholarship. Upon graduating, Haley apprenticed with the Michael Mao Dance Company in New York. She returned to Chicago and since has performed with Aerial Dance Chicago, Still Inspired, and has collaborated with many Chicago choreographers. Haley is currently dancing for Carrie Hanson in The Seldoms and is so excited to be returning to Project Bound Dance this season. She is a 200-hour certified yoga/aerial yoga instructor and teaches yoga and dance throughout the Chicagoland area.
Ileana Nadine is a first generation Mexican-American originally from Aurora, Illinois. Growing up in a culturally rich family, she developed a strong connection to dance at two years old. She has taught at various dance studios around the Chicagoland area up until 2018 when she then embarked on her journey as an Assistant Teacher at Rogers Park Montessori School in Andersonville. Utilizing her dance background in an engaged learning environment—she hopes to achieve her Masters Degree in Education and mirror her passion as a dance educator. Today she continues her training with many companies and projects such as Glenwood Dance Studio, Matter Dance Company 2018-present, Silvita Diaz Brown’s Sildance/AcroDanza 2019-present,Echo Modern Dance Collective 2020-present & Lucid Banter Project 2022-Present.
Janet Lilly is a Professor of Dance at the University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG). She joined UNCG after over 15 years at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, where she was instrumental in creating a low-residence MFA program for returning professionals.
A former principal dancer and teacher with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, Lilly has choreographed, performed and taught as a guest artist nationally and internationally.
A former principal dancer and teacher with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, Lilly has choreographed, performed and taught as a guest artist nationally and internationally.
Jacqueline Bertault was born in New York City but grew up in Arizona, where she began her dance training at age 4 with the Scottsdale School of Ballet. She is both French and American, and has spent most of her summers in France visiting family. At age 16, she moved to France to attend the Ecole Superieur de Danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower. A year later, she received the opportunity to attend the Houston Ballet Academy’s professional division and studied there for 2 years. In 2019, she moved to Chicago to attend the Joffrey Academy of Dance Trainee program and worked professionally with the Ballet Nice Mediterranee in France for their production of Don Quichotte. In 2021, she received the opportunity to attend the Milwaukee Ballet II and has enjoyed dancing with the second company ever since. She also has had the privilege to attend numerous summer programs including the Paris Opera Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Houston Ballet, and Joffrey Ballet (Chicago) and has attended summer workshops and masterclasses in Paris, Barcelona, Prague, Marseille, Cannes, and Naples. She is grateful for the opportunity to share her love of dance with the community.
Juan Enrique R Irizarry Jr. was born and raised in Chicago, IL. He began formal dance training at the age of 17 through Joffrey Ballet and Culture Shock Chicago. In 2015, he obtained a BA in Anthropology/Sociology with a Dance Studies minor from Knox College. Juan Enrique is currently in his fifth season with Identity Performing Arts, his third project as a dancer and collaborator with Sildance/Acrodanza, a magician assistant for “The Great Frankini”, a project-based dancer with The Vaudettes, and a freelance dancer/choreographer/instructor. He was just awarded a fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to obtain his MFA in dance. He has also been a part of multiple projects and companies, including but not limited to Rainbow Children Dance Collective, Knox College's Alumni Artists Residency 2020, Innervation Dance Cooperative, Modern Marvels, Movement Revolution Dance Crew, and Back & To the Left Productions. As a versatile dancer, he has trained in various dance techniques and styles, has had a work-study position at Visceral Dance Center for five years, and continues to tour nationally and internationally to perform. Juan Enrique maintains dynamic energy and passion for exploring dance and provides an anthropological and sociological influence through his teachings and career.
Juli Farley holds degrees in Dance and Anthropology from Northwestern University (2011) and an MBA from Pepperdine University (2018). In addition to Project Bound Dance, Juli performs with Same Planet Performance Project and works as a freelance artist. Previously she has danced with Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak (Chicago, IL), Selah Dance Collective (Santa Barbara, CA) and appeared in several dance films by Monica Thomas/montom arts. Juli has performed in original works by Robyn Mineko Williams, Julia Rhoads, Stephanie Miracle and Netta Yerushalmy. When not dancing, you can find Juli working to reduce single-use plastic waste and learning to play the drums. She also really likes to knit, garden and ride her bike around the city. This is Juli's first season with Project Bound Dance and she's so excited to get to move with such beautiful dancers.
Katelyn Altmann (she/her) is a movement-based artist, choreographer, and improvisor currently residing in Milwaukee, WI. She received her BFA in Contemporary Dance Performance and Choreography from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts. During that time, Altmann performed in works of Joe Goode, Simone Ferro, Maria Gillespie, Esmé Boyce, Daniel Burkholder, Dawn Springer, Melanie George, Esther Baker-Tarpaga and worked with artists such as Ishmael Huston-Jones, Kathleen Hermesdorf, and Irene Dowd among others. She is a current performance and collaborative artist with Wild Space Dance Company, Hyperlocal MKE, Danceworks, and Li Chiao Ping Dance. Katelyn has presented both her solo and collaborative work throughout Milwaukee, Chicago, Minnesota, Seattle, and New York. She has performed at the Seattle Festival for Dance Improvisation, Dance Masters of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Dance Council, BDF/Gibney Connect NYC, GALLIM S.I., CNADM, MKE Fringe, Danceworks DanceLAB Get it Out There, Moving Queries, and her work was selected to be presented at the American College Dance Association’s North Central Conference. During her time at UW-Milwaukee, Altmann received two Undergraduate Research Fellowships immersed in movement research. Katelyn’s work lives in embodied study, tested and realized through creation processes, improvisational strategies and performance. This takes shape through porous embodiment, visceral play, connection, and attunement.
Kelly Anderson is the Director/Founder of Death's Door Dance Festival and the Artistic Director of Kelly Anderson Dance Theatre--a company inspired by variety, theater and comedy. Evening-length works include: THE END IS HERE and that's ok., presented in Links Hall's 40th Anniversary Season, Skits and Pieces, presented in Steppenwolf's LookOut Series (2017), "In Sarah's Shadow: The Eleonora Duse Story," a co-creation with Writer/Director Olivia Lilley at Prop Thtr (2017), “Livin’ the Dream" (2017), VAUDEVILLE! (2015) and the Chicago company debut, Message Me If... in 2014. Prior to her arrival to Chicago in 2012, Kelly co-created the evening-length: this is how we disappear and The Little Things with Portland-based performance company bobbevy. Kelly has created two solo shows with the Danceworks Performance Company (Milwaukee, WI), Vaudeville and The Bra Project. Her most notable independently produced works include a dance/theater/opera collaboration, 26, with Milwaukee Opera Theatre, choreography for Gal Friday Film's Missed Connections, Red Knife Lottery's music video "Junkie Jazz", the creation of The Mondo Lucha Dancers for the Mondo Lucha Variety Show, two collaborative evening- lengths, Vacant (w/Kelly Zwiers) and Bad Meat (Jacob Neumann), choreography for A Wrinkle in Time with actor/director Mark Metcalf and The First Stage production of Peter Pan. Her work has been performed in The Minnesota Fringe Festival, Detroit Dance Festival, and her commissioned work, Shower, was presented at Puffin Room in NYC. Chicago performance credits include D49 Festival (2014), Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival (2014), THAW (2013-2021), It's Happening! (2017 & 2016) and Mediums (2016) at Links Hall. Anderson was awarded a CoMISSION through Links Hall for their 2019-2020 season
Kerensa DeMars is a choreographer, performer and educator working in Flamenco. Her work explores the ‘Flamenca’ archetype, the diverse roots of Flamenco and the poetry at the heart of the form. Elements of digital collage, poetry and cross disciplinary musical collaborations feature prominently in her productions. Kerensa has performed internationally at venues like the Royal Festival Hall in London, the Tivoli in Barcelona, Madrid's Teatro Calderón and the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco. The founding director of the San Francisco Flamenco Dance Company, Kerensa lived in Spain from 1997-2004 where she trained intensively in Flamenco dance with Spain’s foremost artists. Kerensa is the recipient of major choreography commissions from the San Francisco Arts Commission, Theatre Bay Area/Dancer's Group, the Azahar Dance Foundation and the Teatro Pradillo of Madrid. Her recent work Volver paired the poetry of Cecilia Woloch, Federico Garcia Lorca and Leonard Cohen with traditional Flamenco and interpretations by Palestinian musicians.Kerensa is currently the director of Studio K Flamenco, Milwaukee’s home for the Flamenco arts. With programs like the annual Flamenco Nutcracker, the Compás Youth Project and the FlamencoMKE performance series, Studio K is committed to furthering the art of Flamenco in Milwaukee and beyond.
Kristen Harker started swing dancing in 2011 while living in New York City and has been hooked ever since. She has traveled around the country and abroad attending dance workshops and is a former member of a vintage dance troupe in Pennsylvania. She moved to Door County in December 2022 and is looking forward to fostering a local swing dancing community. She lives in Ellison Bay with her two dogs.
Li Chiao-Ping, named by Dance Magazine as one of the “25 to watch”, has been praised by critics in the New York Times, Village Voice, Dance Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and San Francisco Bay Guardian, calling her work “...marvelously imaginative...engrossing, intelligently put-together piece of work.” As a performer, Dance Magazine said “Li Chiao-Ping in performance is a case of the dancer transcending the dance…When Li’s onstage, you don’t want to blink.” Known for her originality, trademark physicality, humanism, and visual design, Li Chiao-Ping creates layered works that combine multiple art forms to explore themes of culture and identity. Li Chiao-Ping was named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to watch” and earned her graduate degree from UCLA, was Director of the Hollins College Dance Program (1989-1993), and Chair of the UW-Madison Dance Department (2011-2014). She is the Artistic Director of Li Chiao-Ping Dance and has directed/choreographed in musical theater, opera, and ballet, for stage, screen, and other sites; she receives commissions from dance companies, colleges/universities, and individuals around the country. A 7-time NEA grant awardee and a MAP Fund grant recipient, Li is a multi-hyphenate artist who has also received fellowships from the Wisconsin Arts Board and Scripps/ADF Humphrey-Weidman-Limon, was the American representative in ADF’s International Choreographer’s Program, and honored with an Outstanding Woman of Color in Education Award. Li’s work has been shown in major venues/festivals in the U.S. and abroad, including Jacob’s Pillow, Bates, ADF, Kennedy Center, Walker Art Center, Dance Place, Danspace Project, DTW, Theater Artaud, CounterPulse, and in Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, Argentina, and more. Li is the creator of The Extreme Moves Training MethodSM/TM. She is honored to be a UW-Madison Vilas Research Professor and the Sally Banes Professor of Dance, the first person in Dance to receive either professorship. Li was also the first BIPOC faculty hired and tenured in Dance. She recently won the Best Direction Award for her screendance work “Provenance: A Letter to My Daughter” from the 2023 Experimental Dance & Music Film Festival.
Logan O'Neal trained at Metropolitan Ballet Theatre in Alpharetta Georgia from 2015-2019 under Maniya Barredo. He then joined Richmond Ballet as a trainee from 2019-2021, before joining Milwaukee Ballet’s second company (MBII) from 2021-2023. He performed roles in ballets such as Balanchine's Slyvia, Ashton’s Rhapsody, Precious Stones in The Sleeping Beauty, Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, as well as new works by Timothy O’Donnell and Kristopher Estes-Brown. Logan will be joining Indianapolis Ballet starting in August. He has also performed as a guest artist with Charleston Ballet Theatre, Southeast Alabama Dance Company, and First State Ballet Theatre. Logan earned his associate’s degree in biology, graduating summa cum laude, and is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in exercise science at the University of Wisconsin in Superior.
Lucy Vurusic-Riner, MEd, BS is the Executive Director of RE|dance group. She completed her undergraduate studies at Illinois State University and her graduate studies from National Louis University. Lucy danced with Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak, RTG Dance and the community casts of White Oak Project and David Dorfman Dance. She has also collaborated on projects with Chicago Danztheatre and The Poetry Center of Chicago. In 2005, Lucy was AAHPERD's Midwest Dance Teacher of the Year. Lucy was the director of the Oak Park and River Forest Dance Department for 12 years before joining the faculty at New Trier High School in 2012. In 2016, Lucy presented her work internationally at the New Dance for Asia Festival in South Korea.
Mae Daniels has been active in dance and musical theatre since she was five years old. Always having been drawn to teaching, she started choreographing and directing children's musicals as a sophomore in high school. Working with people of all ages, teaching dance has always been a passion of hers. Attending private dance lessons, college classes in dance, and learning choreography from professionals throughout the Chicagoland area- focusing on ballet, jazz, tap and musical theatre styles of dancing. After moving to Door County six years ago, she has been actively teaching yoga to all ages and is currently running the youth dance program at the Northern Door YMCA in Fish Creek. In her free time you'll see her hiking with her pup, paddle boarding and enjoying the beauty of Door County.
Maria Gillespie (she/they) is a choreographer, performer, dance and somatic educator. She directs MG/The Collaboratory and Hyperlocal MKE, both dedicated to interdisciplinary collaboration and improvised performance practice. She directed LA-based Oni Dance (2003-2015) and was named one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch". Her work has been presented at The Ford Amphitheatre, The Getty Museum, REDCAT, Cal Arts, Highways Performance Space, Joyce SoHo, CounterPULSE, Guangdong and Beijing Dance Festivals. She received her BFA from Purchase College and MFA in Dance from UCLA. She is a CLMA Laban Bartenieff Movement Analyst, Pilates teacher, and Associate Professor of Dance at UW-Milwaukee.
Maria Theodore is a Chicago-based dancer and visual artist. One of her favorite collegiate moments was performing the original version of OffBalanceUnHinged as a member of Northwestern University’s Graffiti Dancers. A decade later (whoa), she is thrilled to once again dive into the magnificently bonkers brain of Rachel Molinaro and recreate this wonderful mania. Rehearsal is the best when you spend three-quarters of it hysterically laughing.
Meredith Harrill (Orlando, FL) began her dance training at Central Florida Ballet Academy and continued her training on scholarship at the Kirov Ballet Academy of Ballet of Washington DC. Meredith was a trainee with Joffrey Ballet Chicago and BalletMet Columbus and was given the opportunity to perform with both companies in several productions. Meredith joined State Street Ballet of Santa Barbara in 2013 and was a soloist in several pieces including works by Autumn Eckman, Edgar Zendejas, William Soleau and Gina Patterson. Meredith has received awards from both Youth Grand Prix and World Ballet Competition and has attended summer programs at Lines Ballet, The Juilliard School and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.
Michael O’Neill graduated magna cum laude with a BFA in Performance and Choreography from the Ohio University School of Dance. He currently resides in Chicago, IL where he has danced over the past decade with companies such as We Stand Sideways, Mordine & Company Dance Theater, RE|dance Group,Same Planet Performance Project and Kelly Anderson Dance Theatre. Although recently taking time away from dance to pursue other adventures, Michael could not be more excited to perform again with Kelly Anderson Dance Theatre at Death’s Door Dance Festival this summer!
Michelle Meltzer(Indianapolis, IN) graduated with honors from the Jacob's School of Music at Indiana University and holds a B.S. in Ballet with an Outside Field in Education.Michelle has danced professionally with Nevada Ballet Theatre, Aerial Dance Chicago, Chicago Repertory Ballet, Symbiosis, Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre II, and in New Dances- a collaboration between Danceworks and Thodos Dance Chicago. She has performed works by George Balanchine, James Canfield, Daniel Ezralow, Mónica Cervantes, Brian Enos, and Marguerite Donlon among others.
Milwaukee Ballet was founded in 1970. Led by Artistic Director Michael Pink, Milwaukee Ballet creates a rich and diverse community through its inspiring dance performance, education, and outreach. Milwaukee Ballet hosts an international Company of dancers and maintains its own orchestra. Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy is the only professional dance school in the Midwest accredited by the National Association of Schools of Dance, teaching beginner through pre-professional levels in three locations: Third Ward, Fox Point, and Brookfield. Milwaukee Ballet’s award-winning Community Engagement department serves thousands of people in Southeastern Wisconsin each year through original, interactive programs.
Danielle Gilmore and Melissa Pillarella are Chicago based artists, trained and mentored under the direction of Shirley Mordine since 2011. Gilmore is original from Yuma, AZ, attend the University of Arizona, receiving her BFA. Pillarella originally from Chicago, IL, received her BFA from the University Illinois. Gilmore and Pillarella have performed at the Chicago at Museum of Contemporary Art, Columbia College, Smart Museum, Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival with Mordine and Company. As part of The Mordine Legacy Project they are working to preserve performance and repertoire of Shirley Mordine and Mordine & Company Dance Theater. Gilmore and Pillarella first premiered choreography in 2018 and have continued to create separately and collaboratively.
Morgan Williams is originally from Chicago, IL. While attending Chicago Academy for the Arts, Williams had the privilege of studying under Randy Duncan, Guillermo Leyva, and Anna Paskveska. Following Chicago Academy for the Arts, Mo accepted his first professional contract to dance with Dance Kaleidoscope in Indianapolis, IN, at 18. Following his time with Dance Kaleidoscope, Mo continued his professional dance career by performing with numerous companies: Momenta Dance Company, Cerqua Rivera, Joel Hall & Dancers, Chicago Dance Crash, Deeply Rooted, Eisenhower Dance Detroit & Visceral Dance Chicago. Additionally, Williams was featured on Season 10 of “SYTYCD” and succeeded to an L.A. finalist on the show in Season 11. Mo’s expanded performance credits include Detroit Opera House’s productions of Aida, Pearl Fishers, Carmina Burana, Mac Cosmetics, and ESPN Wisconsin Sports Awards.In 2021 he opened the doors to his studio in the greater Milwaukee area. (The Studio.) Home to his professional repertory dance company Water Street Dance Milwaukee. As such, Williams has choreographed numerous professional works of concert dance. Recently he has been commissioned to set pieces for Madison Ballet, Noumenon Dance Ensemble, Visceral Dance Chicago, and Illinois State University.
Nekea Gabrielle Leon was born on October 24,1994 in Milwaukee, WI. She was born to Barbados native, Lisa Wood, and St. Lucia native, Roy Leon. The mix of her parents cultural background started her love of all things dance. Starting as a young child she studied ballet at the Brown Deer Dance Academy under Ms. Becky. After a few years of not dancing her training picked up at Samuel Morse Middle School by Mrs. Betty Locklear. There she learned ballet, modern, jazz, and hip hop. Her training would then continue into high school at Milwaukee High School of the Arts. Here she received training from Sandra Jordan, Dean Drews, and Anne Bruggeman. Outside of many school performances she also danced with Xaalat Africa Drum and Dance for Life for four years while in high school with Roxanne Kess. In college, while studying for her BA in contemporary dance she has danced with Amaniyea Payne, April Sellers, Rhea Speights, Maria Gillespie, Dani Kuepper, and many others. Nekea has now recieved her BA in contemporary dance from UWMilwaukee - Peck School of the Arts and has been dancing with Danceworks Performance Company for the last 4 years. She plans to travel the world currently and share her love of dance with others.
Owen Alabado is an experienced choreographer and dance captain within the Musical Theater realm. He has been a dance captain/choreographer for several theaters, cabarets, and theme parks. During his 17 years in Los Angeles, he worked as a dancer on numerous commercials, live shows, and reality shows. His passion for Musical Theater and Dance has brought him back to the world of live theater.
Under the direction of Ashley Deran and Emily Loar, Project Bound Dance is a Chicago-based modern dance group rooted in the practice of collaboration. Since its founding in 2013, Bound has created work that is both curious and accessible. Creating both live concert performance and dances for camera, Bound draws from both modern dance and somatic fundamentals. Incorporating vigor, athleticism, and intricate gesture exploration Deran and Loar weave together the vision of two distinct artistic voices to create richly textured dance performance.
Rachel Molinaro has been active in the Chicago arts community as a performer, choreographer, administrator and educator for nearly 10 years. After receiving her dual degrees in dance and international studies from Northwestern University, Rachel has danced professionally with companies such as Project Bound Dance, Striding Lion Performance Group, Kelly Anderson Dance Theatre, Mish Mash Productions, enidsmithdance and The Leopold Group and currently creates her own work as an independent artist. Rachel recently joined the Senn Arts High School staff as their Fine & Performing Arts Program Coordinator, as the Artistic Director of the Evanston Dance Ensemble’s second company and she sits on the board of directors for Project Bound Dance.
Rachel Slater is an international award-winning dance artist and filmmaker based in New Orleans, LA. She believes artmaking can be a radical, humanist act which can support and amplify communities, stories and empathy. Rachel holds a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She has performed with Minh Tran & Company, Franco Nieto of Open Space Dance, Tracey Durbin Dance, Tere Mathern Dance and Éowyn Emerald & Dancers, among many others. Rachel is the co-Artistic Director of Muddy Feet Contemporary Dance in Portland, OR. With MFCD she has produced, choreographed and performed in three award-winning dance films which have screened in 16 countries, and 45 festivals worldwide. Their most recent screendance, how we live, won five Best Dance Film laurels, as well as Best Pandemic Film. Rachel has received artist residencies from the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (Canada), Dance Days Chania (Greece), Hambidge Center (Georgia), New Expressive Works (Oregon), Sou’wester (Washington). Currently, Rachel is pursuing an MFA in Interdisciplinary Dance Performance at Tulane University. She is a Mellon Fellow for Community-Engaged Scholarship and has been working with the Lower Ninth Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement, as well as with BODYART Dance.
Creative partners, Lucy Riner and Michael Estanich, established RE|dance Group in 2009 as a means to explore long distance collaborations and present dance theatre works that examine the many facets of human relationships. Executive Director, Lucy Riner, is a Chicago based dance artist and teacher. Artistic Director, Michael Estanich, lives in Stevens Point- at the University of Wisconsin as an associate professor of dance. Their creative process embodies rich emotional content and dramatic imagery through the layering of music, text and sculpture. They seek to establish physical memories that enrich their dancing and the relationships created in their works.
Sarah Morimoto is a Chicago performer. She graduated from Northwestern University in 2016 with degrees in dance and chemistry. Throughout her training, Sarah has worked with and performed works by several Chicago artists including Jeff Hancock, Lizzie Leopold, Laura Wade, Maray Gutierrez, Robyn Mineko Williams, Joseph Caruana, and Riccardo Battaglia. Professionally, Sarah has had the opportunity to work with Joel Hall and Hanna Brictson and Dancers. In addition to performing, Sarah has also choreographed and performed works at The iO Theater. She also has set works on several youth companies in the city and suburbs. Sarah performed last year as an apprentice with Project Bound and is excited to be returning for another season.
Silvita Diaz Brown is a Mexican/American choreographer, dancer, teacher and director of Sildance/AcroDanza. Based in Chicago since 2008, She holds a BFA in Dance from Universidad de las Américas Puebla (UDLAP), Mexico and an MFA in Theatre/Choreography from York University, Canada. In Chicago her work has been presented and supported by several venues and organizations across the city. In 2019 she was awarded The Individual Artists Grant from the City of Chicago and The Links Hall Artists CO-MISSION FELLOWSHIP for her project “Leyendas y Realidades.” “Leyendas' was also part of 2020 American Dance Abroad Pitchbook volume VII. Silvita was honored to be nominated for a 3ARTS award in Dance in 2020 and 2021. In 2021 She was awarded a Chicago Dancemakers Forum Digital Dance Grant for her dance film “Visita a Nuestros Muertos” and in 2022 she was selected for a Ragdale Fellowship Residency where she started the creative process of her new work “Ellas y Yo Mexicanas.” This 2023 she received a Chicago Cultural Center Dance Studio Residency to continue developing her work Ellas y Yo and this summer she is honored to tour her work for Death's Door dance Festival In Door County and in Cuba for FITSA. For the last 15 years, her work has been presented at venues/festivals in Spain, India, Mexico, Canada, and within the USA. Her work blends elements of contemporary dance, ballet, yoga, acroyoga, circus and physical theater and incorporates sound, text and video to tell stories that connect to her personal journey as a Mexican woman who left her country in search of her own voice and identity. Silvita layers these elements to find ways to excavate, embrace and reconcile her heritage, history and cultures and share the complexity of ideas and emotions that surround her concept of self and of home. Mysticism and magic realism are electrical currents that run through all her work and come closest to capturing the conflicted and conflicting truths that make up who she is and what she is drawn to dance. Her goal as an artist is to discover and articulate deep strengths and insights that inspire audiences to feel empowered in their identities and futures.
A native of São Paulo, Brazil, Simone Ferro is a choreographer, movement practitioner, somatic researcher, and Fulbright scholar. She joined the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Department of Dance in 2001 and retired in 2022 after decades serving as MFA program director and department chair. After a professional career as soloist with dance companies in Brazil and Switzerland, she completed her graduate work at the University of Iowa, a Laban Movement Analysis Certification by the Columbia College of Chicago and a Certificate as Fascia Trainer. Simone collaborates extensively with local dance, theater and opera community, as well as visual artists, writers, musicians, and filmmakers. Her project Milwaukee Through Embodied Research has engaged research students addressing social and environmental justice and community resilience through oral histories in the central city community of Milwaukee. Simone works with movement for mindfulness, as well as classical dance technique with an applied somatic vision in which she uses concepts of movement analysis, kinesiology, anatomy, biomechanics, fascia studies and the body as a home for empathy. Since 2007, she travels to Brazil to research popular culture in Maranhão with her research partner and life companion Meredith W. Watts.
Sixto Franco- Member of the Quijote Duo, Music of the Americas Project and the Louisiana Philharmonic, Sixto is a music and performing arts enthusiast. A versatile performer, teacher and composer, Sixto has concertized in Europe, United States, Mexico and Uruguay. Sixto Franco is passionate about chamber music and has had the honor to perform with Eighth Black Bird, International Chamber Artists, Symbiosis Ensemble in L.A., the Kaia String Quartet, Chicago Chamber Orchestra, and the Gesher Music Festival in St. Louis, MO. Recently, Sixto has made an appearance in “Broadcast from home”, a highly collaborative project created and developed by composer and community-maker Lisa Bielawa. Soloist appearances include the Camerata Musicalis, Chamber Orchestra of Salamanca, the Lira Castellonera Symphonic Band, Spain and the Thornton Music School Chamber Orchestra, He has also served in the Santa Barbara Chamber orchestra, Chicago Chamber Orchestra, the Elgin Symphony, and the Chicago Philharmonic, in addition to having performed with artists such as Paquito D ́Rivera, Fareed Haque, Ernie Adams, Robert McDuffy, Mike Mills, Steve Larson, Midori and Austin Wintory. The creative side of Sixto Franco has pushed him to venture into composition. He has written music for different mediums such as chamber music, theater and dance. He made his debut on February 2011 premiering his work “Blanco y Negro” in a Cancer Benefit Concert promoted by the Spanish Consulate in Los Angeles. The “malArte Association” of Valencia, Spain, commissioned and premiered his piece Five “O’clock Tabu” as the soundtrack for the interdisciplinary work with the same title. His last collaboration included the Chicago’s Tiffany Lawsome Dance Company resulting on the creation of “Calm Panic” for solo viola and dancer. Quijote Duo regularly includes his works in their repertoire.
Stacy DeMorrow earned her bachelor’s degree in dance from the University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point. During her studies there she performed works by Billy Siegenfeld, Susan Marshall, Mary Anthony, as well as spending a month teaching dance in Thailand as part of the Thailand Project, a mission to use higher education as humanitarian aid. Living in Chicago the last 13 years Stacy has performed for Perceptual Motion Dance Company, We Stand Sideways Dance, Mordine and Company Dance Theater, Montom Arts by Monica Thomas, Kelly Anderson Dance Theatre, RE|dance Group, and Project Bound Dance. When not dancing Stacy can be found playing with her cats Rosemary and Risotto and baking up a storm in her kitchen.
Susan Firer’s most recent book is The Transit of Venus. She is the author of five previous books of poetry, including Milwaukee Does Strange Things to People: New & Selected Poems 1979-2007 and The Lives of the Saints and Everything. Her books have been awarded the Cleveland State University Poetry Center Prize, the Posner Award, and the Backwaters Prize. She has also been the recipient of a Milwaukee County Artist Fellowship, a Wisconsin Arts Board Fellowship, and the Lorine Niedecker Award. In 2015, Firer was a National Endowment for the Arts fellow. Her poems have appeared in The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Chicago Review, Ms. (Magazine), Georgia Review, The Iowa Review, New American Writing, Conduit, The New Yorker and other journals and anthologies. Firer’s poem “Call Me Pier” is included in the Poetry Foundation’s Poetry Everywhere series. From 2008-2010, she was Poet Laureate of the City of Milwaukee. The University of Nebraska Press reissued her fourth book, The Laugh We Make When We Fall, in fall 2021. More information at www.susanfirer.com
Tim Russell (he/him) lives at the confluence of the aural and the visual. He currently serves as Music Director for the University of Wisconsin Dance Program. In 2019, Tim was selected as one of the Cowles Visiting Artists at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, a first for a Musician in the field of Dance. He has a vast catalogue of works specifically for choreography, most of which exist live, in collaboration with movement. His commitment to the nowness in performance led him to co-create/curate, along with choreographer Maria Gillespie, Hyperlocal MKE, a Music and Dance improvisation series that exists to this day in Milwaukee. His current curatorial project: Common Sage Arts, promotes multidisciplinary artists through carefully curated performances. Along with Tim’s long time collaboration with the Gerald Casel Dance, his audio shares the stage with choreographic artists such as: Kate Corby, Abby Crain, Danceworks, Maria Gillespie, Holly Johnston, Stephan Koplowitz, Sara Shelton Mann, Li Chiao Ping, Liz Sexe, Marlene Skog, WildSpace Dance and Jin Wen Yu, bringing Tim and his music across the world from Dock 11 in Berlin to YBCA in San Francisco. He holds an MFA in Music Improvisation from Mills College in Oakland, California, where he studied improvisation, electronic music and composition with the likes of Fred Frith, Roscoe Mitchell and Zeena Parkins. His 2020 album: “Junct”, a collection of improvisational duets with bassist Ari Smith, was included in Tone Madison’s top 20 records of 2020.
Founded in 2013 by Artistic Director Nick Pupillo, Visceral Dance Chicago is a contemporary dance company that is constantly pursuing a deeper focus of intent that continues to challenge audience expectations. Visceral embraces the understanding that art is universal. Our goal is to promote connectivity by uniting communities through a powerful shared experience. Since inception, the company has developed a diverse and respected repertoire by new emerging voices and distinguished, world-renowned choreographers.
Water Street Dance Milwaukee is a multifaceted dance company exploring diversity in our art, artists, and audiences. Water Street features athletic, innovative, and entertaining performances for all to enjoy! As Milwaukee’s premiere repertory dance company, we aim to constantly push the boundaries of contemporary art. In 2019, Water Street Dance Milwaukee was named Overture Center Rising Stars Winner, recognizing the company’s talent and potential on a national level. "All I can say is go see this remarkable troupe as soon as there's another chance… They should be seen across the country." -Shepherd Express
Wild Space Dance Company is in its fourth decade of offering inventive performances and innovative outreach and community programs. Known for site-specific works and artistic collaborations, Wild Space takes audiences on adventures through built and natural landscapes, visual art, history and the human condition through wry humor, clever choreography and emotionally-charged dance. The mission of Milwaukee-based Wild Space Dance Company is to explore diverse cultural landscapes to create provocative new choreography, site-based performances, and educational opportunities. The company cultivates creative experimentation, innovation, and collaboration by investing in local artists, and engages audiences with dance in a shared experience of place and community.
Photo Credits: A. Deran Photography (Sarah Morimoto, Project Bound Dance, Emma Draves, Haley Marcin) Allison Evans at Wild Nest Photography (Amanda List), Arthur Wilinski (Kerensa DeMars) Benjamin Wardell (Melinda Jean Myers), Christopher Peddechord (Rachel Slater), Chuck Osgood (Moraine Legacy Project), Greg Gardner (Amanda Timm), Halle Sivertson (Ashley Ray Garcia, Gina Laurenzi) Hannah Long (Janet Lilly), Indie Media Studio (Juan Enrique R Irizarry Jr.) Jeff Pearcy (Wild Space Dance Company, Katelyn Altmann) John Hart (Li Chiao-Ping) John R. Boehm (Charlique C. Rolle), Josh Modell (Susan Firer) Karjaka Studios (Sixto Franco), Kat Stiennon (Water Street Dance Milwaukee), Katherine Helen Fisher (Gerald Casel) Lidia Sharapova (Nekea Gabrielle Leon), Mark Liney (Enid Smith), Mary Breuer Photos (Andria Nikoupolis Weliky), Matthew Gregory Hollis (Cheryl Cornacchione, Danielle Gilmore,Lucy Vurusic-Riner), Meredith W. Watts (Simone Ferro), MReid Photography (Visceral Dance Chicago,Morgan Williams,Meredith Harrill, Michelle Meltzer, Braeden Barnes), Rachel Malehorn (Milwaukee Ballet, Logan O'Neal, Jacqueline Bertault) Sara Glover (Ileana Nadine), Soulful Odisha (Cyenthia Vijayakumar), Stephanie Toland (Rachel Molinaro), Taso Papadakis (RE|dance Group), Vin Reed (Chloe Michels & Enid Smith),William Frederking (Silvita Diaz Brown), xoME Studio (Kelly Anderson)
Header Design: Charlie Stephens
Header: Allison Evans at Wild Nest Photography
Header: Allison Evans at Wild Nest Photography